Art of coating leather with fabric



2 Sheets-Sheet l Il l J. W. SWEANY ART OF @DATING LEATHER WITH FABRIC Originalf'iled Feb.

Sept. 26, 1933.

Sept. 26,L 1933# J. w. SWEANY vART 0F .CoA'IlNc- Lux;

@HER WITH FABRIC Original Filed Feb. 14. 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept. 26, 1933 James W. Sweany, Bro H. B. Products Co.,

ckton, Mass., assignor to 7 f' Inc., Brockton, Mass., a

, corporation of Massachusetts Original application February 1,4, 1931, Serial No.

515,767. Divided and 19, 1932; Serial No. 5

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to the art of coating leather With'fabric, and more particularly to the art of reinforcing insoles.

'For many years it was the common practice in the art of reinforcing insoles, for the shoe manufacturer to purchase ywebs of duck coated with ra rubber compoundwhich was normally non-adhesive under ordinary conditions of temperature and to render this coating adhesive by 0 heat just prior to the application of a suitable length, cut from the web; to one face of an insole. It is now well appreciated in the shoe industry that the use of heat, however applied, to render the primary coat on the duck adhesive, has inherent faults. To obviate these faults it has been proposed heretofore that the shoe manufacturer apply to the primary coat a cold gum just prior to the application of a suitable length, cut from the web, tothe insole. To obtain any beneficial result thisk gum must be applied to the primary coat in a thickened condition. In actual practice it is found that it takes twentythree gallons of this gum to coat a web of duck one thousand yards in length, which makes the gum expensive to use.

Theprincipal object of the present invention is to provide an economical method for applying a second coat to the previously coated fabric just prior to its application to the leather.

To the accomplishment of this object, and such others as may appear hereinafter, the various features of the present invention reside in certain methods hereinafter described and then set forth broadly and in detail in the appended claims which possess advantages readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

The various featuresof the invention will be understood readily from an inspection of the accompanying drawings illustrating an apparatus for practicing my novel method of applying latex 'to the coated face of a web of fabric, in which, Figure 1 is a View in plan, the cover for the tank being broken away to show underlying parts;

Fig. 2 is a view in sectional elevation on the line 2-2, Fig. 1, and

Fig. 3 is a view in sectio line 3 3, Fig. 1.

In practicing my method, one face of the duck is provided with a coating of some suitable rubber compound which permits the coated duck to be ,rolled for convenient shipment and handling. Just prior to the application of aY suitable length nal elevation on the of the duck, cut from theweb, to one face of an insole, the coated face of the duck is coated with this application January 87,529

a latex which has been treated to render it exceedingly thin. The latex is applied to the primary coat at room temperature. .This thinned latex makes a strong bond of union between the insole and the duck and is extremely economical as nine gallons are sufficient to coat a web of duck one thousand yards long. Stated in another way, one gallon of the thinned latex is sufficient for two thousand pairs of reinforced insoles, while one gallon of the gum hereinbefore referred to is suicient for only about seven hundred andv eighty-two pairs of reinforced -insoles In the illustrated embodiment of the invention the thinned latex is stored in an inverted bottle 4 the open mouth of which is inserted through a 70 circular opening 5 (Fig. 2) formed in the upper surface 6 of a hollow` casting. Interposed between the surface 6 and the shoulders of the inverted bottle is a rubber washer 7 which ts in a groove 8 formed in the surface 6. 75

The casting comprises a at bottom 9, (Fig. 2)

a curved vertical wall l() integral therewith which merges with the surface 6 and two vertical walls 11 (Figs. 1 and 3) integral with the bottom 9 and with a vertical wall 12. The interior of the hollow casting forms a tank 13 or trough into which the latex flows like water from the inverted bottle 4. The casting is secured to an elevated work bench 14 (Fig. 3).

Secured to the bottom 9 is a narrow rectangu- 85 lar strip l5 (Figs. 2 and 3) to which is secured a yoked bracket 16 provided with a pair of vertical arms 18 and 19, respectively, (Figs. 1 and 2). The arms 18 and 19 each carry a cross arm 20, each Lone of which is provided with two halfbearings 21. These half-bearings support the reduced cylindrical ends 22 of a pair of cylindrical rolls 23 and 24, which, as shown in Fig. 3, are mounted, with their peripheries spaced apart, partially immersed in the latex tank 13. The upper ends of the arms 18 are slotted to receive the reduced cylindrical ends of a cylindrical roll 25. The depth of the slots in the upper ends of the arms 18 and 19 is such that the roll 25 rests upon the peripheries of the rolls 23 and 24 under l the inuence of gravity.

The web of duck, which has beenprovided previously with the primary coat, is mounted in a coil on a cylindrical core 26 having reduced ends which are removably mounted in the upper ends of slotted arms 27 supported by a stand 28 secured to a floor beneath the work bench 14. The free end of the web in the coil is conducted through an opening ,29 (Fig. 3)` formed in the work bench 14, over the portion 30 (Fig. 1) of a roll 31, removably mounted on brackets 32 secured'to4 the exterior of the left side vertical wall 11, over the wall 11, beneath the roll 25, and over a scraper 33 removably mounted on brackets 34 carried by the interior of the right side vertical wall 11. l

The tank 13 is covered by a dome-shaped cover 35 (Fig. 3) which is pivoted on ears 36 formed on the brackets 32. The bottom edge of the cover, in its closed position, rests upon the surface 6, right side wall 11, and the vertical wall 12. To hold the cover 35 in a position uncovering the tank 13 the ears 36 are provided with lugs 37 engaging the tipped back cover. The top of the cover 35 is provided with an integral lug 38 which may be grasped by the operative to facilitate covering and uncovering the tank. The bottom edges of the cover 35 at the left and right side ends thereof are cut away to facilitate the passage of the web into and out of the tank 13.

After the web leaves the tank 13 it is passed under and over a cylindrical roll 39 (Fig. 3) removably mounted in brackets 40 carried by the exterior of the right side vertical wall 11. After the web leaves the roll 39 it passes over the top of the cover 35. in position to be severed in the proper lengths for application to the faces of the insoles in the usual manner.

' As the web is drawn by the operative through the device the rolls 23 and 24 are rotated by the web in a clockwise direction, viewing Fig. 3, thus causing them to coat the bottom of the web with latex. The pressure roll bears upon the uncoated face of the web and presses the previously coated face into engagement with the peripheries of the rolls 23 and 24. The operative draws off a suicient length of the web for a number of pairs of insoles. During the intervals between the 'coating operations the thin latex on the peripheries of the rolls 23 and 24 may drain back to the surface of the latex in the tank. The portion of the periphery of the roll 23 between the points 41 and 42 (Fig. 3)'may become dry and, therefore, during the succeeding coating operation may not coat the web with latex, thus leaving a section of the web uncoated. But in the meantime, a section of the periphery of the roll 24 immersed in the latex has been rotated to' a position where it coats this dry section with latex. Thus, the arrangement of the three rolls 23, 24 and 25, shown in Fig. 3, insures a continuous coating of latex on the web as it is drawn through the device.

As shown particularly in Fig. 1 the coating rolls 23 and 24 are slightly narrower than the width of the web to keep the latex off the edges of the web and thus prevent the latex from smearing the roll 39 and the top of the cover 35 as the web is drawn thereover.

The device is constructed to support and coat two webs having different widths. To this end the device is provided with a set of coating rolls 43 and 44 and a cooperating pressure roll 45 (Fig. 1). These three rolls operate upon a narrower width of web than the rolls 23, 24 and 25.

It will be clear to those skilled in this art, and with the general objects of the present invention in view, that changes may be made in the steps of the method, the described and illustrated embodiments thereof being lintended as exploitations of the underlying essentials of the invention, the features whereof are definitely stated in their true scope in the claims herewith.

What is claimed as new, is:

1. That improvement in the art of coating leather with fabric which consists in providing the fabric with a dry coating of 'rubber compound, coating the rubber compound with latex, and uniting the doubly coated fabric to the leather.

2. That improvement in the art of coating I 

